Tag: new york

New York Governor Kathy Hochul Announces Plans to Implement Pre-Crime Surveillance, Target Online “Hate”

In a press conference today, New York Governor Kathy Hochul outlined her administration’s aggressive new strategy for combating online “hate” and implementing pre-crime-esque online surveillance.

As part of this approach, New York’s Threat Assessment and Management Teams (TAM teams), which were established in August 2022 in response to the Buffalo mass shooting, will extend their efforts and start targeting speech surrounding the conflict in the Middle East, with a focus on preventing crimes before they occur. TAM teams will be given an additional $3 million investment for their implementation across New York State college campuses.

“We’re creating strategies, first time ever, to help identify hate at the source and prevent crimes before they occur,” Hochul said.

The TAM teams, primarily focused on tracking and stopping violent acts of hate, work in collaboration with mental health professionals. They establish reporting systems for red flags and provide training to identify early warning signs of radicalization. This initiative, while seemingly noble in its intent to protect New Yorkers, raises significant privacy and First Amendment concerns.

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New York lawmaker accused of forcing himself on woman during Haiti relief meeting

A Democratic state legislator from Brooklyn has been accused in a lawsuit of raping a woman during a meeting at her house about Haiti relief money, reported the Associated Press on Monday.

“The lawsuit, filed Friday, accuses Sen. Kevin Parker of assaulting her in 2004, during his first term. The woman said she had been working with Parker to coordinate the delivery of items and donations to Haiti after a devastating flood that affected the country and other neighboring Caribbean Islands,” reported Bobby Cuza. “The suit was filed under the Adult Survivors Act, a special state law that created a yearlong suspension of the usual time limit for accusers to sue. The law is set to expire after Thanksgiving.”

State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, through a spokesperson, called the allegations “extremely disturbing,” and vowed that “We will take appropriate action as more information is learned.”

The Adult Survivors Act has led to a wave of litigation of older cases that would otherwise have been impossible to bring.

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New York Governor Signs Marijuana Tax Cut Bills, Providing Local 280E Relief For NYC Businesses

New York’s governor has signed legislation that to provide tax relief to New York City marijuana businesses that are currently blocked from making federal deductions under an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as 280E.

About five months after the Senate and Assembly approved the proposal, and less than a week after both chambers formally transmitted their identical bills to Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), she signed them into law on Friday.

While Hochul signed a separate budget bill last year that included provisions allow state-level cannabis business tax deductions—a partial remedy to the ongoing federal issue—New York City has its own tax laws that weren’t affected by that change. The new measure is meant to fill that policy gap.

“This bill would allow a deduction for business expenses, incurred by taxpayers authorized by the Cannabis Law to engage in the sale, distribution, or production of adult-use cannabis products or medical cannabis, for purposes of the unincorporated business tax (UBT), the general corporation tax (GCT), and the corporate tax of 2015, commonly referred to as the business corporation tax (BCT),” a summary says.

A section of the city’s tax code would be amended to add sections allowing the deductions “in an amount equal to any federal deduction disallowed by section 280E of the internal revenue code.”

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Headless corpse with no arms washes up on NYC beach – two weeks after missing Irish filmmaker, 44, was last seen on nearby stretch of sand

An investigation has been launched after a headless body was discovered on a beach in the Rockaways in New York City. 

The NYPD were on the scene at  Breezy Point Beach just after noon on Friday after reports of human torso came in to 911.

Officers with the 100th Precinct responded to the gruesome sight which saw a human torso with legs still attached but without arms, was found lying on the sand.

The discovery comes only weeks after a talented Irish film maker named Ross McDonnell disappeared from his New York home with his bike later being found at Fort Tilden Beach near Roxbury – just three miles away from Breezy Point Beach. 

Emmy award winner McDonnell, 44, was last spotted late on the night of Saturday, November 4 at Fort Tilden Beach near Roxbury, where his bicycle was found locked up three days later.

Earlier this month, friend Gene Gallerano, told The Irish Times that McDonnell appears to have been on the beach but ‘went out into the ocean’ before disappearing.

The identity of the body found on Friday will not be released until the family is notified. 

The NYPD has not revealed whether the body had washed up on shore or been dumped on the beach. 

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FBI agents raided homes of ANOTHER Eric Adams aide Rana Abbasova and Turkish Airlines exec at the same time they searched home of NYC Mayor’s chief fundraiser Brianna Suggs in corruption probe

The FBI searched the homes of another aide of New York City mayor Eric Adams and a Turkish Airlines executive on the same day they raided his top fundraiser’s house.

Federal agents executed warrants on November 2 on the New Jersey homes of Rana Abbasova, director of protocol in Adams’ Office for International Affairs, and Cenk Öcal, an ex-Turkish Airlines executive who was on his transition team.

Abbasova, 41, was Adam’s longtime liaison to the Turkish community when he served as Brooklyn borough president, The New York Times reports.

Meanwhile Öcal was the general manager of the New York office of Turkish Airline until early 2022.

The mayor’s office had described Abbasova as an aide who ‘acted improperly‘ after the FBI took Adams’ electronics as part of the agency’s probe into an alleged campaign kickback scheme.

Boyd Johnson, the lawyer for the Adams’ campaign, said the employee, now known to be Abbasova, had been reported to investigators. He did not identify the person or give details of the alleged improper conduct. 

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Governor Kathy Hochul Says New York Has Started Conducting Special Media “Surveillance Efforts” To Monitor “Hate”

In response to escalating incidents of harassment, particularly against Jewish and Muslim communities, New York’s Governor Kathy Hochul is today intensifying the state’s counterterrorism measures and is boosting the controversial practice of surveilling social media platforms, and therefore the speech of New Yorkers and other American citizens.

This measure follows ongoing tension in Israel and Gaza. Hochul revealed plans for enhancing the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force personnel and assigning an extra $2.5 million to the State Police.

“…we’re very focused on the data we’re collecting from surveillance efforts, what’s being said on social media platforms, and we have launched an effort to be able to counter some of the negativity and reach out to people,” Hochul said.

“When we see hate speech being spoken about on online platforms, our media analysis, our social media analysis unit has ramped up its monitoring of sites to catch incitement to violence, direct threats to others.

“And all this is in response to our desire, our strong commitment to ensure that not only do New Yorkers be safe, but they also feel safe.”

This isn’t the first time Hochul has stuck her nose into monitoring online speech.

A New York law aimed at regulating “hateful conduct” online was blocked by a judge. This law, signed by Governor Hochul, required social media networks to report and address hateful conduct, broadly defined as actions that vilify or incite violence based on various identity factors.

Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr. ruled that the law violated the First Amendment, emphasizing the importance of protecting even hateful speech. The court argued that the law not only restricted the speech of social media users but also compelled social media networks to adopt and endorse the state’s definition of hateful conduct.

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NYC mayor being investigated for potentially illegal campaign cash

Federal authorities are investigating whether New York City Mayor Eric Adams received illegal campaign contributions from Turkey, reportedThe New York Times on Thursday.

This report comes after a raid was executed at the home of Brianna Suggs, a campaign consultant and prominent fundraiser for the mayor.

“Investigators also sought to learn more about the potential involvement of a Brooklyn construction company with ties to Turkey, as well as a small university in Washington, D.C., that also has ties to the country and to Mr. Adams,” reported William K. Rashbaum, Dana Rubinstein and Jeffery C. Mays. “According to the search warrant, investigators were also focused on whether the mayor’s campaign kicked back benefits to the construction company’s officials and employees, and to Turkish officials.”

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Budtender At New York City’s First Legal Cannabis Store Jailed On Marijuana Charges

An employee of the city’s first legal marijuana dispensary is being held on Rikers Island on a cannabis-related felony charge in a striking example of how pot, despite being legal in New York state, can still drag people into the criminal justice system as it remains illegal under federal law and those of several states.

When police pulled over 33-year-old Jumal George in Brooklyn on October 11 as he was driving to a friend’s house after a shift as a lead budtender at the Housing Works Cannabis Co., they found he was driving without a license—and that he had a warrant against him in Pennsylvania. The charges there stemmed from several cannabis-related charges he was arrested for back in 2021.

His fiancée, Audra Ramos, told THE CITY that he had left his license at home. “A little mistake was made, but he was fixing it,” she said, noting that George had made trips back to Pennsylvania to deal with the charges there but missed a hearing after one of the dates was moved up suddenly last year. That’s when the warrant was issued.

When police pulled him over in New York, George was detained. Two days later, he was sentenced to seven days at Rikers for the license charge.

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New York Officials Debunk ‘Misinformation’ About Fentanyl-Laced Marijuana

New York marijuana regulators are working to debunk what they say is the “false” narrative that cannabis is commonly contaminated with fentanyl—a “misconception” that remains “widespread” despite a lack of evidence.

The state Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) recently put out a factsheet on the issue, acknowledging that while fentanyl has been found in drugs like MDMA and heroin, anecdotal claims about marijuana laced with the potent opioid are so far unfounded.

OCM published the two-page document—titled “Cannabis and Fentanyl: Facts and Unknowns”—to “address misconceptions about cannabis being mixed with fentanyl,” it said. “The goal of this fact sheet is to provide evidence where it is available, to share information about what is currently known and unknown, and to provide safety tips to help alleviate some of these misconceptions, often spread through misinformed media coverage and anecdotal reporting.”

“Misinformation related to the danger of accidental overdose due to cannabis ‘contaminated’ with fentanyl remains widespread,” the office said. “Anecdotal reports of fentanyl ‘contaminated’ cannabis continue to be found to be false, as of the date of this publication” last week.

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NYC family convicted of running sex trafficking ring using ‘threats of force, fraud and coercion,’ bribing cop with sexual favors

The Queens family that allegedly operated a years-long sex trafficking ring involving young women and girls from Mexico — and bribed an upstate cop to cover up their horrific offenses in exchange for sexual favors — was found guilty this week, federal officials said. 

Luz Elvira Cardona, 35, her partner Jose Facundo Zarate Morales, 34, as well as her mother Blanca Hernandez Morales, 53, and the older woman’s partner, Roberto Cesar Cid Dominguez, 60, were all found guilty Thursday after a four-week jury trial in Brooklyn Federal Court.

During the sick scheme, Cardona even paid for her 15-year-old niece — who lived in Mexico — to come to New York back in 2007 under the pretense that she could start working as a cleaner, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. 

But once the teen arrived in Queens, her aunt, along with Morales, brokered a deal with a client to sell her virginity.

She was then forced to engage in “commercial sex” with 20 or more men daily, officials said. 

The family’s nefarious plot began in 2002 when they pressured young women and girls – including one other minor besides Cardona’s niece – to come to the US with false promises of a better life, and work lined up for them, the jury heard.

Instead, they “used force, threats of force, fraud and coercion” to pressure their victims to engage in prostitution, prosecutors said. 

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